THE HISTORY OF SCIENTOLOGY’S EXPANSION
The Foundation of a New Era
Nineteen eighty-one was also the year of important administrative changes initiated in response to a problem many organizations suffer in periods of rapid expansion. These changes were ultimately designed to safeguard the purity of the technology, the integrity of the Church and the future of the Scientology religion. That year, inspections conducted by dedicated, long-term Scientologists revealed that the Guardian’s Office or “GO” had lost sight of its charter and so grossly exceeded its authority that the Church’s stability was being jeopardized.
The GO was a small unit of the Church, established in 1966, to protect Scientology organizations from external threats. Over time, it had evolved into a separate, insular, entirely autonomous unit, answering to no one and operating without regard to Mr. Hubbard’s policies.
Thus, in July of 1981, a new era dawned in the Church. The group of dedicated Scientologists that uncovered the GO’s misdeeds and out-ethics put an end not only to that but to the GO as well. The GO’s leadership was removed. Those who had instigated wrongdoing were expelled. The Guardian’s Office itself was disbanded entirely, and a major reorganization of the Church’s corporate structure was implemented to prevent any possibility of a future recurrence of anything resembling the autonomy of the GO.
It was a new era and saw the birth of new organizations and new directions. Church of Scientology International (CSI) was created as the new mother church of the Scientology religion, established to provide ethical, effective ecclesiastical management for Scientology churches throughout the world. It was also at this time that the senior ecclesiastical body over Scientology missions, Scientology Missions International (SMI), was formed. (See Chapter 22.)
More statistical facts about Scientology
